How to Get Approval to Sell Restricted Categories on Amazon?

You can sell millions of products on Amazon and make money. These can be big, like bookshelves or home appliances or very small, like pens and erasers. Amazon has an inventory of 12 million items across all the categories. This enormous range of products makes some sellers think that selling "anything" on the platform is a piece of cake. Some categories require a little more work from you. These categories are called "restricted" or "gated" on Amazon. This article talks about how you can get approved to sell them.

What is Amazon FBA Business?

FBA is one of the selling methods on the Amazon platform, which helps the seller make more money doing less work. Of course, this doesn’t mean you can sit back and watch the catch roll in; it just means that the platform will do the shipping and returns for you (and some other parts of the job). FBA or "Fulfillment By Amazon." In this method, you will list the items you want to sell and send them to Amazon warehouses near you. After this, Amazon stores picks. Packs, ships, and delivers the product to each customer for you. This can benefit new sellers, especially since Amazon will also take care of customer service and returns. This will give you some time to work on your skills and learn customer care.

Can You Sell Products from All Categories on Amazon?

You can sell many categories on Amazon, but you will need to get approved for some of them. As a new seller, some items are "gated" for you, and you should take some steps to be able to list them. Why Amazon gates them? Simply put, the platform cares a lot about the customer's satisfaction and well-being, so it needs to ensure the seller is eligible to sell them. Performance checks, additional fees and other qualifications are among the things you need to go through before being able to list restricted items on Amazon.

The good news is you can sell ungated items right from the start. Things like books (non-collectibles), tools and home improvement, garden supplies, camera and photo products etc.

What Are the Restricted Categories on Amazon?

Amazon always tries to make the platform a straightforward place for aspiring sellers. However, as said before, the platform's number one priority is making the marketplace safe and reliable for customers. It needs to set special rules and regulations like it always had to make this happen. An Amazon-restricted product is any product that Amazon will not let you sell immediately.

The platform either won't allow sellers to list them (like animals, illegal wildlife products, some beauty brands, etc.) or requires approval. These items face legal restrictions in some areas or require safety practices in shipping and delivery. Here are the restricted (items) categories on Amazon (2022 updated):

- Fine art

- Alcohol

- Composite wood products

- Collectible coins

- Personal safety products

- Household safety products

- Entertainment collectibles

- Sport collectibles

- Holliday selling requirements in toys & games

- Jewelry

- Cosmetics & Skin/Hair Care

- Currency, Coins, Cash Equivalents, and Gift Cards

- Dietary Supplements

- Drugs & drug paraphernalia

- Join Amazon Handmade

- Join Amazon subscription boxes

- Music & DVD

- Automotive and Powersports

- Services

- Streaming media players

- Video, DVD & Blue-ray

- Watches

- Explosives, Weapons, and Related Items

- Export Controls

- Food & Beverage

- Gambling & Lottery

- Hazardous and Dangerous Items

- Laser products

- Lighting

How to Get Ungated to Sell Products from Restricted Categories?

Restricted items are only out of reach for a while. You can apply and request to ungating the gated products on your seller account. The process is pretty straightforward, and you will need to follow these steps:

1. Get an Amazon seller account if you don’t have one. The monthly fee would be 39.99.

2. Open your Seller Central and select "inventory," then "Add a product."

3. Scroll through the category or brand and find a restricted product. You can also search for the brand, name or ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number).

4. After finding the product, click "listing Limitation apply" and "Request Approval."

Now your request has been sent to Amazon, and the platform will review it. Most of the time, Amazon will get back to you and will ask for further documentation. Things like invoices, monetary fees, wholesale letters, etc. Provide and send these documents and wait for the reply. You shouldn’t forget that some categories have more requirements. You will need to have years of selling experience to get ungated for them.

How Long Does it Take to Get Approval to Sell on Amazon?

Amazon category approval is simple, but it can take time. Some people find it hard to gather the documents and spend days searching for them. The approval itself doesn’t take much time, though. Sometimes, the request is even automatically approved (usually for sellers who have spent some time selling and have a good reputation among buyers). Other requests can be approved somewhere between 24 hours to more than a month. Amazon usually doesn’t tell you why it rejects the appeal, but if you are rejected, it's best to wait some time (and spend this time practicing and perfecting your sales) and send an approval request again.

Conclusion

Some products can never be sold on Amazon marketplace, and then there are the products not everyone can sell. Before you send an ungating appeal, it's better to gather the needed documents, so you will understand the confusion after Amazon wants them from you. Getting ungated will allow you to expand your sales and scale your business. This will also be a sales practice, so seize the moment and learn what you can!

Source: https://oabeans.com/ungating-on-amazon/